The GREEN for Riau Initiative roundtable strengthens shared understanding among stakeholders in developing a benefit-sharing mechanism based on contribution and performance.
Pekanbaru, 8 September 2026 — The Riau Provincial Government, together with stakeholders, continues to refine the Benefit Sharing Plan (BSP) for the implementation of Jurisdictional REDD+ (JREDD+) in Riau Province through a roundtable workshop held at Hotel Pangeran, Pekanbaru, both in person and online.
This meeting was an important part of the process to refine the draft BSP and ensure that benefits from the implementation of jurisdictional REDD+ can be distributed effectively, efficiently, fairly, transparently, and inclusively to parties that contribute to emission reductions, forest protection, and sustainable landscape management. The activity is part of the GREEN for Riau Initiative, implemented by the Riau Provincial Government with technical support from the UN-REDD Programme and funding from the Government of the United Kingdom.
In her remarks, Prof. Dr. Haruni Krisnawati, S.Hut., M.Si., Expert Staff to the Minister for Climate Change, Ministry of Forestry, emphasized that the BSP is not merely about distributing carbon payments, but is a governance instrument that determines the credibility of REDD+ implementation.
“The Benefit Sharing Plan is not merely a formula for distributing carbon-related payments, but a governance instrument to ensure that benefits are received fairly by parties that contribute to emission reductions, forest protection, and sustainable landscape management.”
She emphasized the importance of benefit sharing based on clear results and contributions, supported by indicators, data sources, and applicable verification mechanisms. Riau’s BSP also needs to be aligned with national systems, including FREL, MRV, registry, carbon accounting, nesting mechanisms, NDC targets, and Indonesia’s FOLU Net Sink 2030 target.
According to Prof. Haruni, safeguards, information disclosure, meaningful participation, gender equality, and accessible and responsive grievance mechanisms must become integral parts of the BSP. Benefit distribution mechanisms must also be accountable, efficient, auditable, and designed to ensure that transaction costs do not reduce the benefits that should be received by communities and actors at the site level. The finalization timeline remains important, but quality, inclusiveness, and implementability of the document must remain the main priorities.
Meanwhile, Head of Bappeda Riau Province, Purnama Irawansyah, S.Hut., M.M., emphasized that the jurisdictional approach places the entire Province of Riau as part of a collective effort to protect forests and reduce emissions. Therefore, the benefits generated must be able to recognize the contributions of various parties, especially those working directly to maintain forest cover.
Purnama encouraged the use of a performance-based approach, so that the weight of benefits can reflect the level of contribution of each party. However, this principle must also go hand in hand with inclusiveness.
“The BSP must be able to bridge three elements at once: national regulations, international standards, and the sociological realities of communities in Riau Province.”
Various actors at the site level, ranging from Indigenous Peoples, local communities, village governments, Fire Care Communities, social forestry groups, Village Forest Management Institutions, Forest Management Units, business actors, and supporting partners, need to be clearly mapped so that contributions, responsibilities, and rights to benefits do not overlap.
During the forum, Purnama also raised the importance of considering long-term and intergenerational benefits. One option that needs to be explored further is setting aside part of the revenue for an endowment fund, so that programme benefits are not only felt when payments are received, but can also support sustainable environmental management in the future. This idea still requires further discussion regarding the amount, institution, and governance arrangements.
Figure 1. Prof. Dr. Haruni Krisnawati, S.Hut., M.Si. delivering remarks.
Ensuring Real Contributions Become the Basis for Receiving Benefits
In presenting the progress of the BSP, the expert team explained that the draft being discussed is still an initial draft. Therefore, the figures, allocation percentages, and formulas presented remain open for refinement based on stakeholder inputs.
One of the main issues raised was how the BSP can recognize not only legal status or formal legality, but also real contributions on the ground. In this way, parties that already have legal status would not automatically receive benefits if their contributions cannot be proven, while groups that do not yet have full formal recognition still need to have space to be recognized if their contributions to forest protection and emission reductions can be verified.
The forum also highlighted the need for strong synchronization between the BSP and MRV, safeguards, the carbon accounting area, and nesting mechanisms. Clarity on the boundaries of the accounting area and the scope of beneficiaries is important to prevent double counting, overlapping claims, or double distribution of benefits between the jurisdictional and project levels.
The initial BSP framework has identified five main components in the benefit allocation architecture: Responsibility, Performance, Performance Buffer, Supporting Activities, and Reward. The draft also includes benefit distribution options, performance indicators, safeguards, and attention to Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI).
Consultation and Refinement Will Continue
Inputs from the roundtable discussion will serve as material for refining the document and for the next deliberation process. The GREEN-Riau BSM Expert Team plans to hold a series of follow-up meetings with the BSM Working Group, central government, regional agencies, district and municipal governments, civil society organizations, academics, business actors, and other stakeholder groups to expand the consultation space and build consensus.
In accordance with the prepared roadmap, the Final Draft BSP is targeted for completion by the end of September 2026, followed by the preparation of the SOP for Beneficiary Identification, BSP finalization, and a Policy Brief. Stakeholder support and endorsement processes are targeted to continue until December 2026.
At the end of the discussion, the team reiterated that the figures and allocations presented remain open to change. Further operational technical details will be developed through SOPs, including the SOP for beneficiary identification, distribution mechanisms, and the selection of intermediary institutions. This approach is expected to make the BSP flexible enough to adapt to policy developments and real conditions in Riau Province.
Through a participatory and continuous process, the Riau Provincial Government and partners hope that the Riau JREDD+ BSP can become a credible, fair, transparent, operational benefit-sharing mechanism that delivers tangible benefits to parties contributing to the protection of Riau’s forests.
